Menay O; mom to 4, Christian and thrift shopper on the side…

I called my mom last night. I haven’t spoken to her in a week. I like to speak to her more often than that but life gets in the way.  If you didn’t know my Dad is fighting stage 4 liver and colon cancer while my mom battles bladder cancer. They’re both having chemo at the same time and they’re both under the care of the same oncologist.

I noticed the last time I saw my dad I guess it was about 2 weeks ago he was weaker than I remembered and his once loud authoritative voice is reduced to a quieter hoarse interpretation. I’m worried about him. I worry about my mom too but she is  eating and exercising, you’d never know she was having chemotherapy unless you talked to her and she would tell you about  the side effects she’s experiencing which are not pleasant.

After speaking to my mom on the phone she put my dad on. The weaker voice is still there and he sounded tired. I mentioned him eating more but he said food doesn’t taste right or doesn’t taste like anything, except for the pizza he had the night before. He’s weak because he’s not eating, he’s not eating because food doesn’t taste right. Vicious cycle…He asked about my son Thomas and his much awaited move to a group home close to where we live. I was so touched that after all he’s going through he’s thinking of Thomas and my family. We talked about how slow things are going with that situation and I said that Thomas will move when God feels the time is right. My dad agreed.

I’ve written before that I’ve handed my parents’ health status and conditions over to The Lord. He is the great physician and in charge of the world. I have people in my church praying for them and I’m sure people I don’t even know about are praying for them both.

I never imagined that my tall, powerful dad could be weakened by anything. Cancer sucks plain and simple. It steals strength, hope, health and our loves. Today my dad is having a PET scan to see if the powerful chemotherapy drugs have affected the cancer. They won’t get the results for a while as their doctor is on vacation, talk about perfect timing …

My dad is a great man battling a great disease. He has his still big attitude on his side and he’s still a fighter. Praying and handing over to The Lord once again that my dad will stay bigger than this horrid disease.